ABSTRACT
A method based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was established to analyze the changes of intracellular metabolites and study the toxic mechanisms of different concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5) effecting the lung tissues in mice.Nasal drip experiments of PM2.5 suspensions (0, 7.5, 20.0, 37.5 g/L) for mice were carried out, and the intracellular metabolites in lung tissues were extracted, pretreated and analyzed.Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were employed for pattern recognition, and an obvious distinction among different conditions was found.According to the PLS-DA loading diagram and variable important factor (VIP) value, 7 kinds of potential biomarkers, alanine, valine, leucine, ornithine, fumaric acid, citric acid and purine (p<0.01), were determined with significant differences between four different concentrations of PM2.5.Metabolic pathway analysis indicated that the oxidative stress reactions were enhanced, and the TCA cycle and the purine metabolism in lung cells were restrained after dripping PM2.5 to the lung tissues in mice.This study could provide a new perspective and theoretical basis for the further analysis on toxic mechanisms by PM2.5.